Scaevitas
by mountaindave
Summary: After the defeat of Cyclonia, Atmos is ravaged by a cruel dictator. The Storm Hawks are their last hope; but when they return from the Far Side with new allies, will their help be accepted?
1. Chapter 1

_**Prologue**_

The defeat of Atmos' age old enemy, Cyclonia, was greeted by a short-lived celebration. If the people of Atmos thought they were free from an expanding empire with a viciously ambitious dictator at its head, they were in for a shock. With Cyclonis out of the way, the Colonel seized the opportunity to establish his own regime. With the help of the Murk Raiders, the skies of Atmos were put under strict regulation; all exports from any terra was property of their new dictator, and his plunder was to be distributed between himself and his henchmen alone. Terras themselves were sacked; houses were pillaged of valuables and weapons, and farmland was stripped of its produce. No airship was granted leave to fly unless personally authorised by the Colonel; if a ship could not produce proof of such an authorisation, the Murk Raider watchdogs would shoot it down and plunder the remains. Sky Knight squadrons were rounded up, and those who were caught and imprisoned were never heard from again. The Sky Knight Council dispersed, fleeing to safety on backwater terras. The Wastelands, even more so now, became a littered graveyard of airships, skimmers, and of people. This was where prisoners were sent, and all sentences were death. Atmos belonged to the Colonel now.

Still, the new revolutionary militia strove to fight back. An underground pocket of the few remaining Sky Knights, bands of smugglers, and a handful of Cyclonian defectors became the Colonel's primary opposition, and guerrilla warfare was their main form of attack. A scorched earth policy was undertaken. Terras burnt their fields, their houses, their towns - anything to stop the Colonel and his army from devastating their homes. Customs and traditions of terras were beaten out, and tyrannic governors were put in place to keep the population in line and cooperative. Terra Atmosia had been the first to fall. There was one terra that had not yet been conquered; Terra Rex. It was there that the revolutionaries made their base. But people everywhere were left without shelter and starving, and the efforts of smugglers to feed Atmos fell short. People were slowly dying, and the militia hadn't the strength to depose their new overlord.  
The Storm Hawks, people believed, were their last hope. There was just one problem.

It had been a year since the Storm Hawks had left for the Far Side, and no one had heard from them since.


	2. Chapter 2

'Okay, Harrier; I'm prepared for the worst. Tell me what's happened now.'

The blond man sat heavily in the chair opposite. 'It's the Screaming Queens.'

'No.'

'Yes, Starling,' he sighed. 'They were shot down over Terra Tropica. The scouts found what... what remains of them in the Wastelands.'

Starling rest her head against her palm. 'Every week we lose more people. Our so-called resistance was small to start with. What're we going to do?'

Harrier shrugged.

'Yeah, I thought so,' she huffed. 'That's everyone's answer to everything these days.' She gave an exaggerated shrug of her shoulders and slumped back against her chair. 'Nothing's going right.'

He hesitated. 'And at your end?'

She raised an eyebrow. 'My end? Oh, you mean how I'm stuck here next to the radio all day? No, nothing's happened here either. Radio silence, as per. Nothing but static. Nothing, nothing, nothing.' With each word she banged her fist against the table.

'They will come back,' he said.

'Ha,' she scoffed, 'they will, will they? It's been a year, Harrier. A year. They were just kids and they went out there alone. Face it, they're not coming back.' Her voice cracked. 'They're dead, and maybe that's a good thing.'

'Don't say that.'

'No, I think I will. Listen, Harrier, we're fucked - oh, for God's sake don't flinch it's just a word - we're fucked out here; Terra Rex won't be secure forever. We're all going to be imprisoned or killed by the Colonel and it'll happen sooner rather than later.' She crossed her arms and scowled.

Harrier sniffed. 'I have faith in my terra,' he said coolly, 'we are still strong.'

She laughed mirthlessly. 'Of course you'd think that. We're not strong; our forces are dwindling, our supplies are running out. It's only a matter of time before Terra Rex is invaded or blown to pieces.'

He stood and stared down his nose at her. 'I know you think you're being realistic, but this cynicism has to stop. They can destroy our homes, they can starve us, they can enslave us, but as long as we live they will never take our Atmos away from us. It is the people, not the land, that make Terra Rex strong. And the people are still here. We are still here. We need you, Starling; we need you to be strong, we need you to lead us, and you can't do that if you give up. And we really can't afford to give up.' With that, he made for the door. His hand on the doorknob, he turned back to her. 'The Storm Hawks are the greatest Sky Knight squadron of our time. They'll be back.'

'I just hope you're right.'

Piper drummed her fingers against the table impatiently, bouncing her knee as she stared out of the window at the swirl of black-grey smog.

'It won't be long now.'

She looked up. 'Hey.'

'Hey,' Aerrow said. 'You seem nervous.'

She stopped fidgeting and sighed. 'What if it's not there?'

'She says it is; the crystals -'

'What if she's reading them wrong? What if we never get back?'

'That's a lot of what ifs,' he said. 'And when has she ever been wrong?'

Piper shrugged. She leant her forehead against her hands, elbows resting on the table.

'Piper,' he said softly, 'we're going to make it. We're going home.'

'They might not take us back, considering,' she whispered.

He placed a consoling hand on her shoulder. 'It's gonna be okay.'

'I feel so trapped here,' she said, 'all this cloud - it's like a prison. Like - like the sky really is the limit and we're stuck here, trapped under this cloud like it's something solid. I feel like we're back in the Great Expanse.'

Aerrow grimaced. 'Let's just hope we don't run into any sirens again.'

She glared at him. 'I'm being serious.'

'I know, that's why I'm not. I know what you mean, about the whole feeling trapped thing. But you can't let it get to you too much - we'll be out of here soon. We'll see the sky again.'

She tried a smile. 'Promise?'

'Promise.'

They both jumped when Finn slid into a seat next to them. 'Man, this is taking forever,' he complained, slumping forwards to lean against the table. 'After everything we've been through here, who knew that this'd be the hardest challenge we'd face in the Far Side?'

'Have some patience, Finn,' Piper chided.

Finn huffed and slid further against the table. 'I'm bored.'

'Yeah, we know, Finn,' muttered Aerrow, 'we're all bored.'

The Condor lurched, and they all jerked forwards with it. Piper and Aerrow stood, running to the window; the grey cloud had become illuminated by an eerie purple glow and lightning darted through the smog as they moved closer to whatever it was that was emitting the light.

'We have to go through that thing?' Finn cried.

Stark against the clouds was what appeared to be a huge crack in the sky; the lightning shot out from it, and the crack undulated and throbbed as if it was something organic, something with a pulse.

'I guess so,' Aerrow muttered, 'someone should tell Junko. We don't really know what'll happen when we go through this thing.'

'Let's just hope we come out where we're supposed to,' Piper said. She turned to where Stork stood at the helm. He gaped at the crack in disbelief.

'Are you ready, Stork?' she called.

He shook his head. 'We're doomed,' he said flatly.

Nevertheless, he guided the airship towards the crack and squeezed his eyes shut as they broke its surface. A high-pitched, hiss that sounded almost like static filled their ears, unbearably loud; for a second, the Condor was filled with a blinding purple light. The light faded fast, and a thick black darkness descended over them. The hissing was replaced by deafening silence, and the only thing any of them could hear was the sound of their own heartbeat.


	3. Chapter 3

The sky spat out the Condor next to the hollow shell of Cyclonia.

'We made it!' Piper gasped.

'Don't sound so surprised,' said Aerrow, clapping Stork on the shoulder, 'not when we've got the best helmsman the sky's ever seen.'

Stork let out a nervous laugh. 'Don't celebrate yet; something'll go wrong. You'll see. Especially with -'

'Let's not,' Aerrow cut in, grimacing. 'Let's just pretend like that's not a problem for now, okay?'

Stork shrugged.

Piper crossed her arms. 'We have to acknowledge it eventually. _We_ may have accepted it, but -'

She was interrupted by an explosion of cannon fire; the Condor lurched to the side, and they all grabbed hold of something to steady themselves.

'Told you,' Stork muttered amidst their shocked yells.

'Is it Talons?' Finn asked, 'why're they shooting at us?'

'It's not like they know,' Piper shot back. 'And I don't think it's them.' She pointed out of the window where an airship sporting a huge, grinning skull face at its bow loomed over the Condor.

'Murk Raiders?' Aerrow exclaimed.

'But... they were on _our_ side!' Finn said incredulously.

'Not anymore they're not,' Piper replied.

'Stork,' Aerrow said, 'we're in no position for a fight with these guys. Get us out of here.'

'You're running away?' Finn asked. 'Dude, that's not like you.'

'Feel like a battle after all we've been through?' Aerrow retorted. 'I don't know about you but I'd rather see some friendly faces.'

'If there are any left. Who knows how many people have abandoned us? Who knows how many more will?'

'Don't say that, Finn,' Piper scolded, 'no one's going to abandon us.'

'You don't know that.'

' _Finn!_ '

He shrugged. 'I'm just saying; things aren't looking good.'

She scowled at him and Finn threw up his arms in mock-surrender.

'Would you two stop fighting?' Aerrow sighed. 'This situation's bad enough without you two squabbling like kids.'

Starling rubbed at her temples.

'I don't know what to say.'

'They were your squadron, Harrier,' she whispered, 'you'll feel this loss more than anyone.'

He slumped into the chair opposite and hid his face in his hands.

'Harrier, I - oh God - I'm sorry.'

'I should've been fighting with them. They died without their sky knight, Starling - how can I bear this shame?'

She reached over and placed a hand on his arm. 'There's no shame to bear; this was not your fault. Don't blame yourself for something you had no control over.'

'I should've died with them.'

'But you didn't. Dammit, Harrier; that's a good thing.'

He shook his head and stared up at the ceiling, watching it as if he could see the stars through the layers of metal above him. 'When will it end?'

She didn't - she couldn't - answer.

'You were right,' he sighed. 'Remember what you said before? This'll end with us imprisoned or killed. You were right.'

'Don't,' she said.

'You believed it before.'

'I was wrong, Harrier. _You_ were right; our people - _your_ people - are still here, the resistance is _still here_. Maybe we're not strong, but we _are_ here.'

'We are _dying_ \- my _people_ are dying. How many more will be slaughtered before we give up?'

'So that's what you want to do? You want to give up?'

' _Yes._ '

'Then all of those people will have died for nothing.'

He glared at her. She shrugged and drummed the table casually with her fingers; they sat for a moment in silence. He huffed, crossed and uncrossed his legs as she avoided his withering gaze, bouncing her leg as she paid particular interest to the wall behind him.

'I suppose,' he ventured, 'I suppose you're right.'

She met his eye. 'I really am sorry about your squadron, Harrier,' she said softly. 'I know how it feels. You've lost your family, your purpose; you think nothing's worth it anymore. I know you want to give up, and I know I've said the same in the past. You convinced me otherwise. The fact is, Atmos needs us. It needs us to keep going and keep fighting; we need to act like we still believe we can win. So, put on your brave face, pull up your big boy britches, and restore that stiff upper lip of yours because we're fighting until we die.'

He nodded pensively. 'Starling,' he said, 'do you still think they won't come back?'

She pursed her lips. 'Stranger things have happened.' She sighed. 'Like you said; the Storm Hawks are the best squadron of our time. But I can't help thinking the worst... I just hope I'm proven wrong.'

'Something's wrong,' Stork muttered.

'Something's always wrong with you,' Finn said glumly.

'No; look down there. It's Terra Atmosia.'

Aerrow, Finn, and Piper moved to the window.

'Oh no,' Piper whispered.

The beacon tower was unlit. It was clear Terra Atmosia had been completely devastated; window panes stood empty of glass, houses had collapsed in on themselves, and clouds of black smoke trailed into the sky. The streets were strewn with broken glass and decaying food and bodies that had been left to rot where they fell. There was no sign of life; not even a bird flew over the terra.

'It's a graveyard,' Aerrow choked. 'What the hell's happened here? What's going on?'


End file.
